The subject matter herein relates generally to electrical connector assemblies.
Radio frequency (RF) connector assemblies have been used for numerous applications including military applications and automotive applications, such as global positioning systems (GPS), antennas, radios, mobile phones, multimedia devices, and the like. The connector assemblies are typically coaxial cable connectors that are provided at the end of coaxial cables.
Some connector assemblies include a housing with a mating interface for coupling to a mating connector. The housing holds a contact assembly that electrically connects to corresponding mating contacts of the mating connector. The contact assembly may be mounted or affixed to a cable, such that the cable extends from a cable end of the housing. One or more electrical contacts of the contact assembly may be terminated, crimped, or otherwise coupled to corresponding conductive elements of the cable to electrically connect the contact assembly of the connector to the cable. The coupling mechanisms are designed to retain the connections and withstand forces that pull the contact assembly away from the cable (and vice versa) without the cable disconnecting from the contact assembly. However, some known connectors do not provide a desirable level of retention force, such that the cable may pull away from the contact assembly responsive to a pulling force that is less than a desirable threshold amount of force. Thus, if the retention force of the connector is exceeded when in use, the electrical connector may break due to the cable being pulled out from the housing, even if the electrical connector remains mated to a mating connector. A need remains for increasing the achievable retention forces for electrical connectors affixed to electrical cables.